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What Happened on the Mavi Marmara?

Nearly two weeks later, and the world still doesn’t know the full story behind the disastrous attack by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid ship that left eight Turks and one Turkish-American dead.

Israel has many questions to answer. But so does Turkey. The ship sailed under Turkey’s flag and was organized — and financed — by a Turkish humanitarian group, Insani Yardim Vakfi. The Turkish government, according to an account in The Times, did little to discourage organizers from running the Israeli blockade.

At least some of the activists on the lead ship, the Mavi Marmara, were seeking a confrontation — and got one. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is a vocal opponent of the blockade. When Israel asked Ankara to stop the ship, Mr. Erdogan’s government said it could not interfere because the ship was sailing under the auspices of a private group. Did Turkey even warn the activists that picking a fight was a stupid idea?

The Israelis claim that Insani Yardim Vakfi is a dangerous organization with terrorist links. They have yet to offer any evidence to support that charge.

The Israelis have to explain their own role — fully. They say the commandos struck back after being attacked and shot at by some of the ship’s passengers. At the very least, there was a huge intelligence failure.

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The international outcry over this episode is unlikely to subside until there is an “impartial, credible and transparent investigation” as called for by the United Nations Security Council. That means a full investigation — in both Israel and Turkey.

Israel stubbornly keeps insisting that it can do the inquiry itself. Israeli news media on Friday said that the government planned to appoint an investigatory committee led by a former Supreme Court judge with American and European observers. Turkey’s government wants an international investigation — and insists ruptured relations with Israel will not improve without it. It has yet to acknowledge that its role needs to be part of it.

A panel under the auspices of the so-called Middle East peace quartet — the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — would have a far better chance at delivering credible findings. Israeli and Turkish representation would have to be included.

That is in Israel’s clear interest. And it is in Turkey’s clear interest. The Obama administration should be pressing both its allies to embrace the idea.

A version of this editorial appears in print on June 12, 2010, on Page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: What Happened on the Mavi Marmara?. Today's Paper|Subscribe